Are Audio Books for Non-Readers?

I normally read three to four books simultaneously. When I tell people this, they immediately asked if they are fiction or nonfiction. I tell them the mix varies. Actually, that’s only two thirds true. I'm usually reading an e-book, listening to an audio book, and reading one or more print books at the same time. The print books are almost always nonfiction. The Kindle and audio formats vary depending on what strikes my fancy, but generally both formats are fiction. It can be a bit confusing, but when I switch mediums, I back up a bit and usually get right back into the story.

My audio habit drew my attention to a Wall Street Journal article about audio books.  The claim is that audio is experiencing an explosion in popularity, especially with the younger generation. This article describes some interesting new concepts in audio that can leverage a franchise to a whole new audience. Throw in big-time tie-in marketing and you can extend a successful property into a phenomenon. Don Katz, Audible's founder and CEO is quoted in the article as saying, "We're moving toward a media-agnostic consumer who doesn't think of the difference between textual and visual and auditory experience. It's the story, and it is there for you in the way you want it."

One Audible.Com development is a syncing feature between audio and e-books. Now, that hit me where I live. I could read/listen to one novel at a time. Read my Kindle with my morning coffee, and then listen to the audio format driving to the gym and on the elliptical. Life just got simpler … which is what new technology is supposed to do, but seldom accomplishes on the first try.

The Steve Dancy Tales are in large print, trade paperback, Kindle, and five are available in audio. For audio buffs, Books-in-Motion produced the first two books in audio format. Narrated by Rusty Nelson, a skillful actor, the books are available from Audible.com. Jim Tedder narrated Murder at Thumb Butte and The Return, and Joe Formichella read Jenny's Revenge.

Are audio books for non-readers? Sometimes. But audio books are also for readers who never want to be away from the story. Remember, “It's the story, and it is there for you in the way you want it."

A more perfect gift?

In my last post, I said that books were the perfect gift. Judging from my sales, evidently Amazon Kindles were a popular gift as well. A year ago, barely 10% of my total sales were e-books. Kindle sales now average 21.6% overall, with a whopping 42% so far in January. Wow. Evidently, readers are loading up their new Kindles and depleting their gift cards. Combine these numbers with the introduction of the Barnes and Noble's Nook and the Apple Tablet, and one has to question the direction of book publishing.

I'm not one of those who predict the demise of the printed book. I'm a Kindle owner and love having my entire library at my fingertips, but I still prefer to read many publications in print. In fact, I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal on my Kindle—which is handy because I travel a lot—but I read the paper version when a hotel offers a free copy.

That said, e-books are a tsunami hitting the publishing industry. And tsunamis do their most damage when they recede, sucking everything away from the landscape. Publishing is older and more staid bound than the music industry, and will have more difficulty adjusting their business model. But adjust they will, and after this wave has receded, the major publishers will remain the dominate power driving popular books.

Traditional publishers provide four services. They act as quality gatekeepers, edit and design books, print them, and do large scale promotion. Although all the services are affected, an e-book only eliminates printing. Publishers still represent an arbitrator of market-worthy material, but e-book readers are giving increasing credence to customer reviews. At the present stage of technology, e-books have reduced the value of book design, but that will change with future generations of e-readers.

That leaves book promotion, which remains fundamentally untouched. Here, the almighty power of the traditional publisher remains intact and bestsellers will continue to be the domain of the large houses. Nationwide and global sales require hitting the market right, eye-catching design, and media clout. (Sounds more like an ad agency, doesn't it.)

Paper-based books won't go away, but print runs will become shorter, which means the unit cost will be higher. If this analysis is correct, publishers will probably whittle down their backlist and much of their mid-list. Publishers only gave these authors puny advances and zero promotion anyway, so this won't hurt too much. Besides, the growth in e-books gives authors an easy to reach, low-cost market. I just hope these self-published authors remember to buy editing and proofreading. Just because it starts with a lower case e, doesn't mean e-books can be as sloppy as email.